


A Kiss By the Lake

by smolbeanmerlin



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Holding Hands, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jealous Arthur, M/M, POV Arthur, POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Past Relationship(s), Post-Episode: s02e09 Lady of the Lake, Protective Arthur, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26793133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolbeanmerlin/pseuds/smolbeanmerlin
Summary: Merlin is sad and Arthur has no idea what to do with himself so he goes and spies on Merlin. Who knows what's going to happen, but I think Arthur has a trick up his sleeve to cheer Merlin up.Not even destiny has foretold this part in Merlin and Arthur's story.
Relationships: Freya/Merlin (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 128





	A Kiss By the Lake

**Author's Note:**

> Short one-shot that I made a will ago.
> 
> Eek I love writing about these two, especially when I make them cute together.

Where was Merlin? Arthur's room was getting messy again. He had no idea how it got like this. Why wasn't his cabbage head of a servant cleaning it up? For the past few days, Arthur had noticed that something was wrong with Merlin. He didn't seem to argue as much or joke around with him. It was like some sort of happiness had been sucked out of him. Merlin rarely smiled and the only time he did was when Arthur had grabbed his head and rubbed his knuckles against it. 

He realised that Merlin's happiness had a bigger impact on him than he thought and he started to realise he was looking at Merlin with more softness than he used to. Sometimes, Arthur caught himself looking at Merlin's lips, wondering how his gaze had ended up looking at them. To say the least, Arthur wasn't able to sort his feelings out, they confused him. He thought he felt something towards Gwen, however whenever he saw Merlin he couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach.

Gazing out of his window, Arthur could see a skinny silhouette stride across the courtyard. Even though it was nearly pitch black, Arthur could tell whom that shadow belonged to. Why was Merlin leaving the castle in the middle of the night? 

Before Arthur knew it, he was in hot pursuit of Merlin. From years of hunting in these woods, he managed to follow Merlin without giving his presence away. Before Arthur knew it, they were at the Lake of Avalon. What was Merlin doing here? 

Even though the darkness engulfed them like a vacuum of unilluminated light, Arthur could faintly see Merlin sit down next to the shallows of the water and place something upon it. Suddenly he started to speak, in a voice that carried a sad tone. Arthur didn't understand, why was Merlin upset? He moved forwards slightly, trying to catch the words that he was saying. 

"... I tried to find you a rose, but I couldn't find any. I know you like strawberries though." he chuckled. 

Merlin's laugh sounded hollow, there was no life to it because Arthur knew that something was upsetting him. He had seen it before and if he asked what was wrong, Merlin just wouldn't tell him. 

To be honest, Merlin could be such a girl sometimes, but when Arthur could tell Merlin was downcast, he always made an attempt to use his normal Merlin mood. It failed though and he never seemed to laugh or snap a good comeback at the young Prince when an insult was thrown at him. Then Arthur would ask what was the matter or what had gotten into him. Sometimes Merlin wouldn't reply, or feebly try to sass back at Arthur. 

A few days ago, Arthur decided to take it up a level, and thought that if he approached Merlin's feelings (which he told himself he didn't care about at all) in another way, he might be able to get it out of him. 

_Arthur was staring at Merlin. He knew he shouldn't 'stare' but it helped him to think about what could be going on his servant's head. He knew it was making Merlin uncomfortable, and Arthur hoped that he would say something about it at any moment. Merlin seemed to be in a rush, probably wanting to escape the prince's gaze on him. Just as Merlin reached the door, Arthur called him back._

_"Merlin, a word please."_

_Merlin's head bowed as he made his way towards where Arthur was sitting. As much as Arthur wanted to look into those mesmerising eyes of his, Merlin wouldn't look up, and instead focused his attention on his hands, as though he had never seen them before. Arthur got up and walked around the table and stood right in front of him. This resulted in a quick glance upwards from Merlin, making split-second eye contact with Arthur before examining his hands again. That one quick look tore Arthur to shreds and made him want to hug Merlin until he smiled again, even though he tried to deny those thoughts._

_"Why were you rushing?" Arthur asked, already knowing the answer to that question._

_"Well, you wouldn't want a prat staring at you." Another quick glance into Arthur's eyes._

_"I was thinking."_

_"You might damage your head if you do that."_

_"Merlin!" They both sniggered, and just as Arthur thought he'd fix Merlin's abnormality, his face fell and their eyes met again._

_"I've got to go-"_

_"Merlin." he was walking away, Arthur still needed to squeeze the secrets out of him._

_"No, really sire, I have to-"_  
_Merlin's voice cut off the moment Arthur's skin made contact with his. Arthur had made to grab Merlin's upper arm, but somehow he had grabbed his hand instead. Seconds of silence passed as they just stared at each other, both with surprised and confused faces._

__

__

_"Tell me, Merlin."_

_"Arthur, my hand-"_

_"Merlin, tell me."_

_"Tell you what?"_

_"What's happened?"_

_"Honestly, Arthur, that thinking has damaged your brain-"_

_Merlin made to pull away, but Arthur held on, tightening his grip._

_"What are you hiding from me?"_

_"What? I'm not hiding anything-"_

_"Merlin, don't pretend, I'm not dumb"_

_"Yes, but you're still a prat."_

_Arthur let go, steeming with anger at how infuriating and self-withdrawn Merlin could be. Merlin would be the death of himself, Arthur was sure._

_"Fine, keep it to yourself! Oh, I'm Merlin and I don't let anyone care about me because I prefer to suffer on my own!"_

_Arthur had blown it, there and then. The sadness in Merlin's eyes grew and they were shinier than Arthur had ever seen them before._

_"I... I had better... I should go."_

_"Merlin, I didnt-" his voice trailed off as the door shut with a soft thud "I didn't mean it Merlin." Arthur mumbled to himself, silenting agreeing with Merlin that he really was an arrogant prat._

Suddenly Arthur pulled himself out of his thoughts as he heard Merlin stand up. He hadn't realised that he had climbed out from behind the trees and was standing out in the open until Merlin started to turn around. Arthur found that his body would not allow him to turn and run away and watched, slightly scared, as Merlin lept back in surprise, causing him to trip on his own feet and fall to the ground. Instinctively, Arthur made to help Merlin up, however Merlin shuffled away and pulled himself up. They both stared at each other, trying to bring themselves together in order to talk. 

Without the Arthur's mind stopping him in order to think, he marched towards Merlin, who was frozen to the spot. In seconds, Arthur had pulled Merlin towards him and wrapped his arms around the skinny boy. It took Merlin longer to process what was happening, but somehow he found his arms automatically embrace Arthur. Even though they couldn't see each other's faces, both wore grins that held a newly grown bunch of happiness. They held onto each other like something depended on it and they wrapped themselves around each other as close as possible. 

Arthur was there as Merlin started to cry into Arthur's shoulder. 

As the morning sun started to appear slightly above the trees, Arthur now knew the reason behind Merlin's sadness. Above all, Arthur felt guilty. He had killed the girl, Freya was her name, whom Merlin loved and that had brought Merlin pain beyond grief. 

Everyday of Merlin's grief-stricken behaviour was because of Arthur's. To be fair, he was slightly jealous of the poor girl he killed. 

Freya got Merlin's love, and even though Arthur tried to ignore the thought, that was something that he wanted to feel. 

"Arthur?" asked Merlin, who was sitting beside him. 

"Yes?" he looked over towards Merlin, inches away from his face. He latched onto his eyes, which were full of sorrow, yet there was a look in them that Arthur had never seen before. 

"You know that time when you wanted to speak to me?" 

"Yeah... The one where you called me a prat, twice?" 

"Yes." 

"What about it?" Arthur knew what Merlin was going to ask and he had no idea on how to reply. 

"Why did you grab my hand?" 

"I have no idea, Merlin." 

"Yes you do!" 

"It just happened, I suppose." 

"Oh come on, no secrets!" 

"You really want to know?" 

"Well, yes!" 

Arthur sighed. Somehow his confidence was overriding his brain. He grabbed Merlin's hand and interlocked his fingers with Merlin's. He closed his grip over Merlin's hand and then looked into his eyes. They were shocked, yet a smile started to emerge on his lips and Arthur slipped a small glance at them. Slowly, Merlin let his fingers lower onto the back of Arthur's hand. 

"Because, Merlin," he waved their connected hands in the air and used his other hand to turn Merlin's head to the side to face him. Arthur paid his full attention to those eyes. 

"I've realised that I don't want to lose you," 

Merlin's eyes widened in disbelief and his smile grew more happy "and that some emotions and feelings should not be ignored," Arthur had no idea why he was suddenly speaking his mind, but he needed Merlin to know "especially when they are for other people." 

The gap between both of their faces closed in, and as their lips touched, a new destiny, which had never been foretold, changed the future of Arthur and Merlin and the coming of Albion.


End file.
